Whispered Lullaby
by Liast
Summary: Silvanna whised for the brother she lost.


There was a glorious kingdom.

There was a powerful emperor and a wise empress. The princess was dazzling, but the baby prince captivated everyone's hearts. Including the darkness.

In a blink of an eye, or after an excruxiatiating night of battle and slaughter, it seemed to be the same anyway, he was gone. The princess was the only witness of how darkness came and disappeared with him.

Now, there was just a kingdom. The emperor desperately reigned while the empress cried to the empty air of her embrace, but the princess shone, oh so blindingly.

She never forget the taste of depravity and fought and fought and fought.

* * *

Time passed.

He remained.

In the end, he opened his eye but there was no lights surrounding him. They were gone. Only shades of darkness, now.

* * *

Christmas this year was going to be so interesting, was what Silvanna thought. She chuckled lightly to herself, but of course Harith heard her.

"What's so funny, my Princess?" he tilted his head, and his confused face was too cute. She smiled, waving a weekly report from a guard stationed at the market. He took it. "Santa Claude?"

"Apparently our resident thief king decided to indulged in a common holiday. So, in the spirit of Christmas, he rebrands himself as Santa Claude and asking children's he met what they want and promises to give it to them by the end of the month."

"What! We need to catch him now." Harith was ready to bolt out of her office, but, Silvanna's clear amusement stopped him.

"Slow down, will you? He haven't done any harm yet."

"It's Claude, my Princess, The Thief King."

"Yes, yes. Everyone know his name after his grand performance to announce his retirement from being a thief, remember?"

Harith opened his mouth, and closed it again, speechless at the absurdity of her words. He forgot about that unforgettable moment. "Can we trust him, though?"

The mirth in her eyes was all the answer that he got. Harith left a moment later, report scroll in his hands, undoubtedly dashed out to find Fanny and concocting a plan, or plans, to mess around with Claude.

People thought she was a great princess, always speaks in kind words and believes in second chance. So merciful, they said. But the real truth?

There was something rotten inside of her. She found it impossible to drown out the constant cacophony whispering in her ear, telling her it was her fault. She was drowning.

She gripped her necklace, whispering an old lullaby for a brother lost so long ago. Her thought ran to the last report from a scouting legion she sent to a cave deep under the mountains. Her heart thrummed with undisguised craving for revenge.

So merciful, they said.

* * *

He slept.

He woke.

It got harder to separate the two. It hurt when he was awake, but the nightmares offered no comfort.

* * *

The vast blue sky never looked more stunning than before. And under the sky, briliant towers proudly stood while colorful banners was swayed by the breeze. The knights sparring in the field below, while maids and servants mailed around, busy with their own tasks to decorate the palace in green, white, and red. Silvanna stared down from the empty hall, unblinking despite the stark contrast of it all.

"Princess?" a voice from behind shook her, clearing the daze she was in.

Silvanna turned and Granger was so close, too close that Silvanna almost took a step back, before she remembered that that she was the princess here, the one with authority on him. She steeled herself, but there was a scroll in his hand, and with that, Silvanna's hope was trampled to the ground.

"I apologize."

"What did they think?" she was furious to even look at him, shaking hand tightly clutched his offered scroll. "What did the king even think? Was I not clear enough when I said that it was him? I've said that too many times."

"I apo-"

"Stop it." She cut, throwing the now crumpled scroll unto the ground."It was not you who banned me from the court. And neither you who ordered to fight him."

He stayed silent, like the obedient knight tha he was.

"Years. I looked for him for years, surely you know."

"I do." The clipped tone out of his mouth gave away his hesitation. "We all do."

"And this was not the reaction that I expected." She scoffed, lips curled slightly. "Oh, who am I kidding?"

From the corner of her eye, she saw he bowed his head. The wind swayed his opened robe, along with her own white dress and blond hair. The crumpled scroll rolled by her feet, slowly, and it stayed there, the wax seal hold it perfectly.

"It's been too long." He dared, finally.

"You swear under me."

"To serve the kingdom." His reply came even before she closed her mouth.

"Do you think so?" she turned to look at him then, holding his gaze. "What if it's me who was kidnapped? What if I come back with a horde of demons under my command, to my own home, my own family, will you stop me without trying to help? To save? Not even once?"

"But that's not what happen."

"Yes, and that's why I'm going to save him." She pressed. Shaking hands gripped her own dress.

Emotions flashed on his face, she never cared. "You shan't do that, my Princess."

"He is your prince." She added, desperation tinged her voice.

"He was, my Princess," he reminded, as if she needed that painful truth shoved up in her face, "But he's a monster now. He must be stopped."

"Are you going to stop me too?"

"If I must."

"You know very well that I am stronger than you."

"Then we will stop you."

"Of course, the Lightborns. And how are you all going to stop me? By killing me? Like how you plan to kill him?"

"No, that will never happen. We will never do that to you." His certainty calmed her down. It put out her own certainty, ground it out, leaving her in a crumbling mess.

"Then how can you think that I will do that to my own brother?"

The wind blew and carried the scroll to fall down the field below. It caressed her, leaving her breathless at the situation she was in. And Granger, his silence rang in her ears.

It blared.

* * *

They changed him.

Day by day.

It happened, slowly. Then it happened, crashing in like waves. He never noticed anyway.

* * *

Despite the approaching threat, the Moniyan Empire celebrated Christmas as usual, as per the emperor's order. To give a semblance of normalcy for its people, her father said, between sips of amber liquid, on an evening they spent together.

She understood. But the hurt never lessened. The roasted turkey still tasted stale in her mouth, and the clear drink down her throat burned more than ever. Christmas dinner she had with the Lightborn felt the same as before, full of joy and a hidden craving on her part. Harith laughed out loud as Fanny recounted their shenanigan on Santa Claude. They all laughed.

If he was here, they could be best friend. She eyed Harith in jealousy.

* * *

There was something he was supposed to do.

Somewhere he was supposed to be.

He couldn't remember any of it. He screamed but there was no sound coming out of his mouth. He choked.

* * *

They sang.

Hands clapped and clasped, smiled and laughed.

She wanted to, but her heart was heavy with lead. She couldn't. So, she whispered a lullaby from a long time ago. It turned into a prayer.

Please be safe, brother, then come back home.

* * *

Time passed.

He remained.

In the end, he opened his eyes and there was light surrounding him. The warmth suffocated him, it crushed him, frayed him alive.

He smiled for the very first time.


End file.
